Justices Ponder Fate Of 2 Detained Cubans

The Supreme Court Wrestles With Detentions Of Unwanted Immigrants.

October 14, 2004|By Stephen Henderson, Knight Ridder Newspapers

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court debated Wednesday the fate of two Cubans who are scheduled for deportation, are not welcome in their native land and exist in a state of indefinite detention in America that would not be legal for other immigrants or citizens.

Deputy Solicitor General Edwin Kneedler told justices that is as it should be because the nation's need to protect its borders requires some illegal immigrants be treated as if they have no due-process rights.

Advocates for the two Cubans said the government's behavior was unconstitutional and urged the justices to apply their ruling barring indefinite detentions to the refugees, who were part of the 1980 Mariel boatlift in which 125,000 Cubans were welcomed by President Carter.

"The government has other ways to control the borders without doing this," said John Mills, an attorney for Daniel Benitez, a Mariel Cuban still in federal custody even though he has served his time for an armed robbery. "If we can jail people indefinitely in this country, Congress should have to empower that specifically."

Kneedler told the justices this was a matter of executive discretion. The detainees have "no vested right to due process," he said.

Daniel Benitez, still in federal custody though he has served his time for an armed robbery, and Sergio Suarez Martinez, who was convicted of sexual assault, have challenged the government's right to keep them in custody indefinitely. Both have committed crimes since they got here, served time and face deportation. But Cuba will not take them, raising questions about their legal status here.

The U.S. government says because they were granted immigration parole in 1980, not legal admittance to the country, they can be treated as immigrants who are arriving for the first time at our shores. They have no rights under the Constitution and can be detained if Cuba will not accept them.